1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a tailgate arrangement of the body of a motor vehicle with a body opening, a tailgate for closing the body opening and at least one, preferably two, rear lamp units in proximity to the body opening, a peripheral attachment flange being formed around the body opening and on which a peripheral sealing profile is provided which is optionally composed of several sections and which corresponds to a peripheral sealing flange on the tailgate. Tailgate arrangements of the type to which the invention is directed includes not only tailgates of station wagons and fastbacks, but also, on the one hand, a rear door arrangement, on the other hand, trunk lid arrangements. Thus, for the sake of simplicity, the invention is described below using a station wagon as an example, but it is not intended that it be limited thereto.
2. Description of Related Art
In a motor vehicle body of known construction, the body opening is stiffened by frame structures and the tailgate is coupled to pivot on a transverse flange of the body bordering the opening via hinges. Adjacent to the body opening for the tailgate, there are body openings or body cavities into which the rear lamp units are inserted.
Both the body opening for the tailgate and also the body openings or body cavities for the rear lamp units must be sealed against water. This is done via sealing profiles which optionally run in several tracks in the area of the rear lamp units. But, it is common practice that the sealing profile is located on a peripheral attachment flange bordering the body opening, while the tailgate has a sealing flange which adjoins the sealing profile in the closed state. However, basically, it is also possible to interchange the attachment flange and the sealing flange, and therefore, to apply the peripheral sealing profile in the area of the body opening to the tailgate instead of the body. The latter of course precludes the possibility of integrating the sealing profiles for the rear lamp units with that for the tailgate.
The tailgate arrangement of the body of a motor vehicle on which the invention is specifically based (published German Patent Application DE-A-197 02 543) is made as a tailgate module which has its own peripheral retaining frame and which can be attached to the remainder of the vehicle body. This is intended to enable economical preinstallation with a high degree of integration. In this construction, the retaining frame of the tailgate module itself has metal reinforcing struts which separate receivers for the rear lamp units in the area surrounded by the retaining frame. These metal reinforcing are welded in the retaining frame, and at the same time, form the attachment flange for the sealing profiles, on the one hand, and are welded to the body at the body opening for the tailgate, on the other hand, for the rear lamp unit. Therefore, the metal reinforcing brace has the function of the corresponding formation of the body, or on the body, in those built conventionally without a separate tailgate module.